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From: David Merrill <david@lupercalia.net>
To: LDP Weekly News <news@en.tldp.org>, Linux Weekly News <lwn@lwn.net>,
Brian Proffitt <bproffitt@internet.com>
Subject: LDPWN for 2002-04-30
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 20:42:02 -0500
LDP Weekly News
2002-04-30
by David Merrill
Announcing the Lampadas Project
We are happy to announce the official launch of the Lampadas Project,
a new documentation production system based on the LDP Database at
http://db.tldp.org.
The LDP Database is a database driven web site designed to manage
document meta-data. The current LDP Database allows LDP staff to edit,
manage, and maintain the document collection, as well as authors'
information. We have been using the database to update and manage
information for about a year. The database has been growing and
evolving, and it is ready for the next stage of development. That next
state is is the evolution to the Lampadas Project.
The Lampadas Project will extend the LDP Database in four ways:
* by adding the capability to mirror documents from other projects
seamlessly, converting them all into DocBook XML;
* by supporting collaboration between authors, editors, and readers
with features such as document annotation and online editing;
* by expanding and automating our publication system, standardizing
it around DocBook XML; and
* by generalizing the LDP's code so it can stand as a project as its
own. This way the code can be used by any other project that needs
a flexible, powerful document authoring, management and
publication system.
The Goals of Lampadas
The Linux Documentation Project writes, manages, edits and publishes
documentation in many source formats, from hundreds of authors, into
many output formats, in dozens of languages. Lampadas will assist all
of those tasks.
Lampadas will provide a web interface for authors to easily write
documentation and for LDP staff to easily manage the document
collection. Lampadas will be a very powerful publication system, and
more powerful than any currently available in the Free Software/Open
Source world. It will offer features oriented toward authors as well
as the reader, such as document annotation.
Lampadas will give us the ability to mirror hundreds or thousands of
additional documents from any number of individual authors. Some
examples of documents that are candidates for Lampadas include KDE and
Gnome documentation, Internet RFCs, the Jargon File, and the many
excellent manuals from the GNU Project.
The LDP's goal for its own Lampadas database is to be a one-stop shop
for all Linux documentation. Whether or not the LDP is involved in its
writing, a document will be available in our Lampadas database as long
as the authors do not object. Any document that is released under a
license allowing free redistribution and derivative works can be
included.
Not only do we hope to mirror KDE, Gnome and other Free documentation,
but we hope that some of the technology being developed for Lampadas
will make its way into other end-user help systems, such as Gnome and
KDE's help browsers.
Lampadas offers (or will offer) the following features:
For Authors
* Meta-data Management: Lampadas already provides complete meta-data
management for documents without meta-data capabilities.
* Complete DocBook Support: Authors who write in DocBook SGML or XML
can make full use of the power of DocBook for their documentation.
It has complete DocBook support.
* Simple Online Editing: It also provides online editing in its own
simple, easy to use text format, WikiText. If you can write a Wiki
page, you can write documentation in Lampadas.
WikiText is not just any text format. It provides the simplicity
of plain text, a bit more power with a few more tags, or the full
power of DocBook.
* Format Agnostic: You will not have to use WikiText to edit your
document online. You can edit your document online whether in
plain text, DocBook, LinuxDoc, WikiText, or Texinfo. These are the
formats dominant at the LDP. Support for additional formats will
be added eventually.
Lampadas supports any format the author is comfortable writing in.
Rather than forcing authors to standardize on a tool, Lampadas
supplies the meta-data shortcomings of the author's choice.
For Programmers
* The publication process generates an enormous DocBook XML data
repository, containing all man pages, Texinfo manuals, free books,
HOWTOs, Guides, and FAQs. This XML repository, or database, will
be available to programmers building other help systems based on
XML, such as KDE, Gnome and ScrollKeeper.
Getting Involved, or For More Information
If you would like to get involved with Lampadas, there is plenty of
work to go around. The highly modular architecture lends itself to
distributed development. Because some architectural decisions are
still being made, this is a good time to get in on the ground floor.
Our mailing list is lampadas@en.tldp.org (subscribers only). To join
the list, send a blank email to lampadas-subscribe@en.tldp.org.
I have put an early development version online at www.lampadas.org.
Feel free to drop by and kick the virtual tires. However, please do
not send bug reports at this time! Any bugs you find, we probably
already know about.
I have also placed some of my development notes in the "Development"
section of my personal home page at www.lupercalia.net.
Why Lampadas?
Fans of Frank Herbert's Dune series will recognize Lampadas as the
name of the Bene Gesserit teaching planet, which plays a role in the
final book, Chapterhouse: Dune. Before the planet can be destroyed by
hordes of Honored Matres, Reverend Mother Lucia orders the planet to
share Other Memory, two by two then four by four, until all the
students hold within them the composite knowledge and memories of the
entire planet. After the planet is annihilated by the Honored Matres,
the precious knowledge is carried back to the Bene Gesserit
Chapterhouse by the lone holder of the precious cargo, Rebecca.
Herbert apparently took the name from the city of Lampadas, which was
an ancient seat of learning and scholarship. Also, the word lampadas
is the accusative form of the word "Torch" in ancient Greek.
In all of these senses, Lampadas seems an appropriate name for this
project, which is created to facilitate sharing information from many
people and many sources, and disseminating it widely to others.
New Documents
* Kernel Analysis HOWTO
This document tries to explain some things about the Linux Kernel,
such as the most important components, how they work, and so on.
This HOWTO should help prevent the reader from needing to browse
all the kernel source files searching for the"right function,"
declaration, and definition, and then linking each to the other.
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/KernelAnalysis-HOWTO.html
Version 0.5, Robert Arcomano (Author)
* The Mosix HOWTO
This document gives a brief description to Mosix, a software
package that turns a network of GNU/Linux computers into a
computer cluster. Along the way, some background to parallel
processing is given, as well as a brief introduction to programs
that make special use of Mosix's capabilities.
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Mosix-HOWTO/
Version 0.15, Kris Buytaert (Author)
Updated Documents
* CVS-RCS- HOW-TO document for Linux (Source Code Control System)
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/CVS-RCS-HOWTO.html
Version 22.3, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com
* Java Decompiler HOW-TO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Java-Decompiler-HOWTO.html
Version 4.4, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com
* LDP Author Guide
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/
Version 3.14, David Merrill (Author) david@lupercalia.net, Jorge
Godoy (Author) godoy@metalab.unc.edu, Mark F. Komarinski (Author)
markk@tldp.org
* Link-sys WPC11 Mini-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Wireless-Link-sys-WPC11/
Version 1.1.1, Gerardo Arnaez (Author) garnaez@yahoo.com
* Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers
http://www.tldp.org/FAQ/Linux-FAQ/
Version 2.0, David Merrill (Author) david@lupercalia.net
* Linux MP3 CD Burning mini-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/MP3-CD-Burning/
Version 2.0, Greg Wierzchowski (Author) greg.wierzchowski@usa.net
* Managing Accurate Date and Time HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/TimePrecision-HOWTO
Version 1.0, Avi Alkalay (Author) avi at br.ibm.com
* PHP HOW-TO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/PHP-HOWTO.html
Version 26.5, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com
* The Linux Gamers HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Linux-Gamers-HOWTO/
Version 0.9.11, Peter Jay Salzman (Author) p@dirac.org
* The Linux Kernel HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html
Version 3.8, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com, Brian Ward
(Author) bri@cs.uchicago.edu
* Vim Color Editor HOW-TO (Vi Improved with syntax color
highlighting)
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Vim-HOWTO.html
Version 17.9, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com
Unmaintained Documents
These documents have been abandoned by their maintainers and many of
them have not been updated in some time. If you're willing to become
the maintainer for one of them, please join the LDP discussion list at
lists.tldp.org and post a message indicating your interest.
* Battery Powered Linux Mini-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Battery-Powered.html
Version ?
* Brief Introduction to Alpha Systems and Processors
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Alpha-HOWTO.html
Version 0.11
* Enterprise Java for Linux HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Enterprise-Java-for-Linux-HOWTO.html
Version 0.2
* HOW-TO for inHouse IntraNet
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Netscape+Proxy.html
Version ?
* Installing Linux on ZIP disk using ppa ZIP Drive Mini-Howto
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Install-From-ZIP.html
Version 0.7
* LINUX PLIP MINI-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/PLIP.html
Version 2.1
* Linux Benchmarking HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Benchmarking-HOWTO.html
Version 0.12
* Linux SMP HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/SMP-HOWTO.html
Version 1.12.1
* Linux Swap Space Mini-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Swap-Space.html
Version 1.42
* Linux Threads Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
http://www.tldp.org/FAQ/Threads-FAQ/
Version ?
* Linux simple fax printer server mini-HOWTO (faxsrv-mini-HOWTO)
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Fax-Server.html
Version 1.0
* NFS-Root Mini-Howto
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/NFS-Root.html
Version 8
* News Leafsite mini-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/News-Leafsite.html
Version 0.4
* SoundBlaster AWE 32/64 HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Soundblaster-AWE.html
Version 1.2
* Spanish Linux HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Spanish-HOWTO.html
Version 0.1
* The Ftape FAQ
http://www.tldp.org/FAQ/Ftape-FAQ.html
Version 0.2
* The Hebrew HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hebrew-HOWTO.html
Version 0.4
* The LBX Mini-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/LBX.html
Version 1.04
* The Linux ""Linux-DOS-Win95-OS2"" mini-HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+DOS+Win95+OS2.html
Version 1.3.1
* The Linux 3Dfx HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/3Dfx-HOWTO.html
Version 1.16
* The Linux Busmouse HOWTO
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/unmaintained/Busmouse-
HOWTO
Version 2.0
* The Linux Intranet Server HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Intranet-Server-HOWTO.html
Version 2.12
* The dosemu HOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/DOSEMU-HOWTO.html
Version ?
* UMSDOS HOW-TO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/UMSDOS-HOWTO.html
Version 1.2
* Visible bell mini-Howto
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Visual-Bell.html
Version 2.3
* X11-big-cursor MINIHOWTO
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/X-Big-Cursor.html
Version 2
* mini-HOWTO install qmail with MH
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Qmail+MH.html
Version 1.4
About the LDP
The Linux Documentation Project is developing free, high quality
documentation for the GNU/Linux operating system. This includes the
creation of HOWTOs and Guides, and collaboration with other
documentation groups.
If you've always wanted to help Linux reach Total World
Domination(tm), but you're not a programmer, there's still something
you can do. Help the LDP!
The LDP keeps a page of resources for authors at
http://www.tldp.org/authors/. Contributions are always welcome.
For more LDP Weekly News, go to http://www.tldp.org/ldpwn/
--
David C. Merrill http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project david@lupercalia.net
Lead Developer http://www.tldp.org
I think Gates still thinks he can treat everyone like shit and he'll get his
way eventually. I think he just got a big surprise.
--Consumer Project on Technology Director James Love
on Microsoft's antitrust trial